A Leather Jacket Saved me from the Rake

This story took place about two years ago, when I was just 14. Not that it matters, but for the record I’m a girl. I’m pretty short and thin, standing at only 5’3 and weighing 90 pounds back then. But I’m very athletic and fast. Don’t worry, these things will come later in the story.

For privacy let’s just say that my name is Quinn. Back then my best friend’s name was Jana. Jana was a “cool” kid, so most of her friends were people I had never spoken to. Jana was having a Christmas party that night, and I remember just being bored out of my mind for most of the time. I’m an only child, my parents were having their own fun and Jana was too busy to pay any attention to her weird friend, so I sat in a chair by a large window.

I was just scrolling through various apps and such, it was probably about 9, only an hour into the party. I suddenly felt a feeling of dread, so strong that I felt like I was going to puke. I had paranoia and anxiety issues, in fact I still have them to this day. I looked outside at the darkness of the night and saw nothing. I mentally scolded myself and chose a different place to sit, but still couldn’t brush off the feeling.

An hour later the kids at the party had the great idea of going outside in the freezing cold to play man hunt. Normally I wouldn’t have gone out, but I needed something to do. I would grow to regret this later.

The teams were made, and unfortunately I was put in a group of kids that I didn’t know, and frankly I doubt they noticed me at first. We all split up with nothing but the flashlights on our phones, and I found myself separating from the group.

I live in New York, and the area I live in is very woodsy and rural, so it wasn’t unusual for people to own giant acres of land. Jana’s house is like this, sitting on five acres of land, and at least four acres were just forest. At the end of Jana’s backyard is a chain link fence that seperates the yard from the endless expanse of forest. At the day you can easily see the fence, so I wasn’t worried about going too far. The problem was that it was 10 and winter, so it was pitch black out there.

At first I was enjoying walking by myself, just listening to nature and the wind when I realized that it grew silent. Seemingly all at once the crickets stopped chirping, the wind stopped blowing, and that’s when I heard it.

I heard footsteps coming from behind me. They weren’t the usual one after the other of human feet, but instead it sounded like the way a drugged horse walked right before it passed out, but the footsteps seemed natural. I don’t know if that makes sense, but bare with me.

I froze in my tracks, and thinking it was one of the boys in my group trying to scare me, I turned around. I wish I didn’t.

There, only a few feet away from me, was a tall, pale being. This thing looked so unaturally skinny, that I was sure that there were no organs in it’s body. It was quite literally just skin and bones. It’s eyes were big and empty, and seemingly stared straight into my soul. It’s hands or claws or whatever you’d call them were long and unatural.

The creature tilted it’s head, like it was examining me, and I immediately realized what it was.

The Rake. I had read the story a few times online but never believed it until now. The creature took a step towards me, and I took a step back. It took another step and so did I. This continued for about five steps, until my back hit something. When I turned around I let out a gasp.

It was the chain link fence. We were at the end of Jana’s property, and I was trapped by this thing. I had no idea what to do. There was no way I could go around this thing in time, and if I called out I was sure no one would hear me. Besides, I didn’t want to know what the creature would do to me if I did yell.

The thing took another step towards me, and I saw my life flash in front of my eyes. I was only 14, and was about to die in the hands of a supposed mythical monster.

But then, as if the heavens were shining down on me, a large crash echoed throughout the forest, causing both me and the creature to snap our heads to the direction of the sound.

Jana’s yard is scattered with old trees, which fell often, but by luck a large elk had knocked it down, and was know standing on our right.

The Rake stumbled over to it, as if to scare it away. I took my chance and sprinted pass the Rake so fast that it took the creature a moment to realize what happened. When it did realize however, it let out a bloodcurdling scream that I had never heard before, the sound still haunting my nightmares.

I could hear it charging after me, but I continued running, until I could see the faint lights coming from Jana’s house.

Next thing I knew, I was forcefully pulled back. Something had snagged onto the leather jacket I was wearing. They say that when we’re pushed far enough, our body can do great things. My reflexes happened to be the things that saved me. Thank god that the jacket I had was open, allowing me to wriggle out of it in seconds and continue running.

I know how stupid it was to wear a leather jacket in freezing weather, but it was incredibly large and thick, so it thought it was enough to keep me warm.

I made it to Jana’s house in record timing, and didn’t even bother to glance behind me as I scrambled inside and slammed the door behind me.

Inside, all the guests including my parents and two police officers were waiting for me. I hadn’t realized it, but I was out there, lost in my own little world, for two hours. Apparently, after an hour of man hunt it grew too cold to play, so the kids went inside. It was then that they realized I was gone, and after the fathers had searched themselves, the police were called.

I told the cops my story, and they were obviously skeptical, but went outside to search.

We waited inside for what felt like forever, the other kids starting to whisper about me, but of course I couldn’t care less of what they were saying.

When the two officers showed up, they looked paler than ghosts, and once I saw what one of them was holding, I nearly passed out on the spot.

“This yours?” The cop asked, holding up my bloody, tattered jacket for the whole party to see. I nodded, and held in the urge to puke.

That being was strong enough to tear my thick, heavy jacket like it was nothing, but that wasn’t the scary thing.

My jacket was covered in blood, but it wasn’t mine. There were no scratches in my back, the creature missed.

That thing had taken someone or something else’s life, right before it almost took mine.